Plastic printing plate and the embossing thereof



y 1953 a. c. BRAINARD ETAL 2,645,178

- PLASTIC PRINTING PLATE AND THE EMBOSSING THEREOF Original Filed Sept. 13,1949

Inventor's George C. Bra/bard Jo/znjf? Graver fi 'fi'o'rneya Patented July 14, 1953 PLASTIC PRINTING PLATE AND THE EMBOSS-ING THEREOF George C. Brainard, Cleveland, and John H. Gruver, Cleveland Heights, Ohio, assignors to Addressograph-Multigraph Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Original application September 13, 19 49, Scrial. No. 115,394. Divided and this application Au gust 23, 1950, Serial No. 181,029 I 5 Claims. (Cl. 101401.1)

I This application is a division of our co-pending application, Serial No. 115,394, filed September 13, 1949.

This invention relates to embossable printing plates and particularly to printing platesthat are made from a plastic material.

Printing plates having embossed printing char- 7 acters thereon have been used in different types of machines, one of which is in the nature of a general purpose printing machine through which individual printing devices or printing plates embodying embossed printing characters are passed one by one into then out of a printing station at which one or more printed impressions may be made from the printing device. In another use Of printing devices of this general class, a printing device is issued to the customer of a department store or the like and is utilized in making out charge or sales slips when the customer makes a purchase at the store. In such an instance, the charge plate or token is placed in a specialized printing machine so that the name and address, and possibly other data, may be printed from the charge plate onto a sales slip.

Printing plates adapted for the above described uses have in the past been made primarily from an embossable metal, and it is an object of the present invention to enable such printing'plates to be easily and conveniently made from a mold- It is recognized that-printable plastic material. ing plates have been made from moldable plastic material, but, as heretofore accomplished, this.

has been done by means of a relatively complicated character so that the use of plastic moldable material in printing plates has been confined to those businesses or plants where the complicated operations could be performed. Printing plates of the character hereinabove described must, however, be Of such a character that the embossing operations may be performed by apparatus that is relatively simple, and to so arrange a printing plate as to enable this to be accomplished is another and more, specific object of the invention.

Other and. further objects of the present in vention are to afford a printing plate made from a plastic material in such a way that the printing plate is not only adapted for formation by simple and economic processes of extrusion, but is also adapted for cooperation with character forming dies in such a Waythat accuracy ofv formation of the embossed characters is assured.

Further and related objects are to enable the displacement of heated plastic material of such 2 printing plates to be readily and easily controlled in the character forming operations, thereby to avoid the formation of undesired projections in the printing plane, of the printing plate, and to enable character forming and blankforming operations to be readily and easily performed.

Other and further objects'of the'present invention will be aparent from the following description and claims and are illustrated'in the accompanying drawings, which, by way of .illustration, show a preferred embodiment and the principles thereof and What We now consider to be the best mode in which we have contemplated applying those principles. Other embodiments of the invention embodying the same or equivalent principles maybe used and structural changes may be made'as desired by those'skilled in the art without departing from the present invention and the purview of the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is 'a' face view of a plastic printing plate embodying the features of the invention, the view being at an enlarged scale;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 2-2 of Fig. l

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view through the portion of the printing plate in which character and blanking impressions have been made, the view being taken substantially along the line 3-3ofFig.l; r

Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view taken vertically through the blanking space along the'line 4-4 of Fig.1;

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially along the line 55 of Fig. 1 and show ing the cross sectional form of one of the printing characters;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the operative face of one ofthe'character forming die heads that may be employed'with' plates of the present invention; ,l

Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken substantially alongthe line 1-1 of Fig 6; q. I

Fig. 8is a fragmentaryperspe'ctive view illus tratingtheoperative face of the blanking die that may be employed with plates of the present invention; and T I Fig. 9 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along the line98 of Fig. 8.

The novel printing" plate of the present invention is indicated by P in the accompanyin'gdrawings' and is adapted tohave type characters as 26 embossed thereon. "jThe'plate of the present invention is an extrusion so as to include an intermediate and relatively thin body portion having the flat rear face with relatively thick reinforced edges II that project from the rear face of the plate. Upstanding parallel ribs 12 are afforded on the front face of the plate P in positions that are to be occupied by lines of type characters embossed on the plate. As best shown in Fig. 2, grooves 13 are located intermediate the ribs 12. Also, as shown in Fig. 2, the upper faces of the ribs 12 are rounded on a relatively large transverse radius or arc, as indicated at 12R. The aforesaid formation of the novel plate of the present invention enables type characters to be formed thereon expeditiously.

In the present instance type characters are embossed on the plate P along the ribs 12 by resorting to type heads having die cavities formed in the forward or operative faces thereof. is also had to a blanking die as 25B, which is utilized to reduce the effective height of the ribs 12 at those positions where a blank space is to appear on the copy printed from type characters on a printing plate as P.

As best shown in Figs. 6 and 7, each type head as 25 includes a relatively flat forward face 15 in which a die cavity T6 is formed that is complemental to the desired form of the type character that is to be prodiiced by the particular type head 25. Each type head is also provided with a projecting angular blade 11, disposed along what may be termed the leading edge of the type head 25, that is, the edge that is disposed to the right of the type character 25, as shown in Fig. 6, or the edge that is disposed to the left of the type character when the type character is viewed in the relationship shown in Fig. 1. Each blade 11 is so arranged thatit extends in an up and down direction across the ridge 12 of the printing plate, and each such blade serves to cut .1

downwardly into the ridge 72 just ahead of the place where the type character 25 is to be embossed. It has been found that this prevents un desired flow or spattering of the material at the edge of the type character where the material of the plate has not previously been worked. The arrangement of the blade 1! of the type head 25 is such that with many characters or letters, the angular surface of the blade 11 that is adjacent to the die recess 16 extends downwardly into the die recess 16 so as to form the adjacentv edge of the die recess, as indicated at "D in Figs. 6 and 7 of the drawings.

The blanking die 25B is also provided with the blade 71 along the corresponding leading edge thereof. The blanking die also has a longitudinal central ridge 80 that is relatively sharp, as shown in Fig. 9 of the drawings, and this ridge is so located on the forward face 15 of the die head that when the die head 25B strikes a ridge 12 in a blanking operation, the ridge 80 will be parallel to and disposed centrally of the rib 12. This sharp edge 80 serves to displace the material at the highest point in the arcuate face of the rib 12, and is effective to force the material of the rib in opposite directions toward the edges thereof. In so doing, the material flows into the die cavities 8| formed above and below the sharp edge 80. Thus, when the type head 25B strikes the face of a rib as 12, the height of the rib is materially reduced, so as to lie below the printing plate, as shown in Fig. 4 of the accompanying drawings. 7

Type heads similar to the type head 25 and one or more type heads as 25B, may be included in Resort a suitable keyboard operated machine to effect embossing of type characters along the face of ribs as '12. One machine suitable for this purpose is that shown in our aforesaid co-pending application, Serial No. 115,394. In that machine suitable means are afforded for heating the die heads as 25 and 25B and also the plate as P.

In order to attain proper and accurate formation of the type characters on the faces of the ribs at 12, it is essential to maintain temperatures that are such as to render the material of the plate P plastic and, of course, the temperature in each instance will be related to the nature of the material employed. While different materials may be utilized, we have found that cellulose acetate is well suited to such use, since it is adapted for formation by processes of extrusion and is readily formed and at the same time possesses adequate compressive strength to resist deformation when used in a printing operation.

When the printing plate as P is made from cellulose acetate material, it has been found it is advantageous to heat the support for the plate to a temperature Within the range of from 380 to 500 F., and at the same time the die heads as 25 and 253 may be heated to a temperature of from to F. Moreover, it has been found that the aforesaid temperature relationship may be reversed if desired, and equally good results will be attained. When temperatures of the foregoing are afforded, it has been found that the type character may be embossed upon the faces of the ribs at 72 without undesired flow of the material but, nevertheless, with accurate type character formation, and the material retains its formed shape after the pressure of the embossing die head has been removed.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the present invention enables type characters to be formed on a plastic printing plate by a succession of forming operations under temperature conditions suitable for the material in which the plate is formed. It will also be evident that the present invention affords a plastic printing plate that is particularly adapted for the formation of embossed type characters thereon. The rib formation of the plate enables the type characters to be disposed so that clear impressions may be made therefrom, and this formation also imparts strength characteristics to the plate.

Thus, while we have illustrated and described the preferred embodiment of our invention, it is to be understood that this is capabe of variation and modification, and we therefore do not wish to be limited to the precise details set forth, but desire to avail ourselves of such changes and a1- ternations as fall within the purview of the following claims.

We claim:

1. An embossable printing plate of the type and size adapted for use as a charge plate to print sales slips and the like and being formed from a thermoplastic moldable material to afford a relatively thin body having a flat rear face and having a plurality of parallel spaced ribs on the other face thereof opposite said flat rear face and spaced laterally apart to define intermediate grooves and having a center to center spacing equal to the line spacing desired in lines of embossed type to be formed. thereon, said ribs being of a width substantially equal to the height of conventional typewriter type to be formed as embossures thereon.

2. An einbossable printing. plate of the type and size to be used in business machines and being formed from a thermoplastic moldable material to aiford a relatively thin body having a flat rear face and having a plurality of parallel spaced ribs on the other face thereof opposite said flat rear face and spaced laterally apart in a distance equal to the line spacing desired in lines of embossed type to be formed thereon, said ribsbeing of a Width substantially equal to the height of the embossed. characters to be formed thereon and the forward faces only of such ribs being rounded in cross section so that the portion of greatest height of each rib is disposed at its transverse midpoint.

3. An embossable printing plate formed from a thermoplastic moldable material to afford a relatively thin body having a flat rear face with reinforcing edge portions projecting rearwardly from said rear face and having a plurality of parallel spaced ribs on the other face thereof opposite said flat rear face and spaced laterally apart in a distance equal to the line spacing desired in lines of embossed type to be formed thereon, said ribs being of a width substantially equal to the height of the embossed characters to be formed thereon.

4. An embossable printing plate formed from a thermoplastic moldable material to afford a relatively thin body having a flat rear face and having a plurality of parallel spaced ribs on the other face thereof opposite said flat rear face and spaced laterally apart in a distance equal to the line spacing desired in lines of embossed type to be formed thereon, said ribs being of a Width substantially equal to the height of conventional typewriter type to be formed as embossures thereon.

5. An embossable printing plate of the type and size to be used in business machines and bein formed from a thermoplastic moldable material to afford a relatively thin body having a flat rear face and having a plurality of parallel spaced ribs on the other face thereof opposite said flat rear face and spaced laterally apart in a distance equal to the line spacing desired in lines'of embossed type to be formed thereon, said ribs being of a width substantially equal to the height of conventional typewriter type to be formed as embossures thereon, the forward faces only of such ribs being rounded in cross section so that the portion of greatest height of each rib is disposed at its transverse midpoint, and said rounded forward faces of the ribs terminating in relatively steep and outwardly, downwardly slanted side edges defining grooves intermediate the adja cent ribs.

GEORGE C. BRAINARD. -JOHN H. GRUVER'.

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